Dealing with a bunch of small-time thugs shady London mobsters Russian millionaires junkie rock stars and assorted other members of the criminal underground director Guy Ritchie has thankfully returned to the beat he knows best--even if the accents are a bit thick and the action often confusing. In this version of contemporary London it’s real estate--and not drugs--that is attracting all brand of criminal with the dangling carrot of a multi-million dollar deal. Into this mix comes the scrappy One-Two (Gerard Butler) and his cohorts Mumbles (Idris Elba) and Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy) who manage to get a loan from the super-crooked old-timey crime boss Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson). He intends to nab the property for himself and demands the money owed him anyway. In order to get the money repaid One-Two hooks up with an attractive but shifty accountant (Thandie Newton) who works for a shady rich Russian dude. This is just the beginning as the plot thickens and the atmosphere gets loaded with all sorts of interweaving characters with distinct motivations of their own to get a piece of the pie in an ever-changing London. Guy Ritchie knows how to cast these things and RocknRolla is no exception--starting with Wilkinson almost recognizable as the vicious oily mob boss who knows how to work the system to get just what he wants. Wilkinson is deliciously fun to watch. So is Toby Kebbell as Lenny’s loopy and off-the-wall stepson--a junkie rock star named Johnny Quid who turns out to have the key to all the money. Butler is strong as the macho small-time thug out to conquer London real estate but gets stuck in a silly subplot when his partner (Hardy) suddenly admits he’s gay and has feelings for him. Mark Strong also impressive in this week’s Body of Lies is terrific as Lenny’s right-hand man Archie a guy who knows how these operations work. Karel Roden has nice moments as the billionaire Russian but we wished there was more to Newton’s role as she simply turns up every now and then without adding much to the proceedings. Elba (The Wire) is great as Mumbles One-Two’s best buddy and other partner in crime. And just for fun a couple of Americans get thrown into the stew: Jeremy Piven and Chris “Ludicris” Bridges playing rock promoters who are trying to make it in the London music biz. Guy Ritchie has had a rough patch lately what with the dreadful Swept Away and the mind bogglingly numbness of Revolver which sat on the shelf for two years before finally getting a nominal U.S. release. It’s no wonder the director wanted to return to the Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch turf in which he made his name. With RocknRolla he’s done just that and the results are encouraging. This flick is pure Guy Ritchie with his patented penchant for colorful low-life characters dense crime plotlines and a gang that can’t seem to shoot straight. Even though there are characters being dropped in at a steady pace and lots of stuff always going on Guy Ritchie manages to keep it all humming and visually arresting. Another big plus is the soundtrack which cranks. Overall RocknRolla really rocks and totally delivers. It’s a wild ride all the way. A promised sequel on the end credits can’t come too soon.

Released from the underworld in 1944 by evil Russian puppet master Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden) and a crew of Nazis as part of Hitler's plan to use occult powers to turn the tide of World War II Hellboy is rescued and raised by kindly Professor Broom (John Hurt). Years later in present-day Manhattan the big red demon (Ron Perlman who at this point must have spent more of his life in a makeup chair than out of one) smokes cigars tosses off wisecracks and fights otherworldly baddies for the secretive Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He's joined by the water-dwelling Abe Sapien (played by Doug Jones voiced by David Hyde Pierce) and fresh-faced FBI agent John Myers (Rupert Evans) the professor's designated Hellboy handler-in-training. When Rasputin resurfaces and unleashes a horde of evil spirits on the city in an attempt to finish what he started back in the '40s Hellboy and Co. (including fetching pyro Liz Sherman played by Selma Blair) must face the dark magician in a no-holds-barred supernatural showdown that (naturally) will determine the fate of the world.
All the digital enhancements and red makeup in the world couldn't make Hellboy a sympathetic character if the actor underneath wasn't appealing. Luckily Perlman fills the bill. Whether he's indulging Hellboy's adolescent jealousy of the burgeoning friendship between Myers and Liz (the angsty brunette is Big Red's lifelong object of affection) or letting a pair of endangered kittens tug at his heartstrings Perlman creates a character who is ironically very human in his contradictions. And his knack for tossing off zippy one-liners doesn't hurt either. Evans one of those Everyman-faced actors whom you're just sure you've seen somewhere before (but since his biggest U.S. credit to date is well nothing you probably haven't) is perfect as Myers--one of those Everyman-faced comic book fellas whose job is to be as earnest as possible. Meanwhile Blair never quite makes Liz as enchanting as she should be to earn the adoration of both Hellboy and Myers; she shoots off a lot of soulful-eyed looks but that depth isn't reflected in the rest of her performance. As for the villains only Roden's evilly charismatic Rasputin can really be considered a character (creepy Nazi leader Kroenen never speaks and Biddy Hodson's scheming Ilsa has just a handful of lines) albeit an underdeveloped one.
Del Toro fans have come to expect slick moody action from the man behind Mimic and Blade II and they won't be disappointed with Hellboy. From gloomy dripping subway tunnels to stark Russian graveyards Del Toro has created a more convincing comic book world than almost anyone else who's brought a graphic novel to the big screen in recent years (Spider-Man's Sam Raimi and Bryan Singer's X-Men flicks are notable exceptions). The lines colors and composition of his shots seem like they could be lifted right from Mike Mignola's pages and Marco Beltrami's eerie/ominous score makes Hellboy's world feel all that much more dangerous. The effects aren't half-bad either. Someone on Rick Baker's creature team seems to have a grudge against squid (every one of the demonic beasties Hellboy battles is positively bristling with tentacles) but the fights are fast furious and fun. Del Toro who also wrote the script does let the film stray perilously close to Daredevil-like cheesiness in a few spots ("All us freaks have is each other!" Abe declares at one point) and the climactic confrontation stretches out a little too long but overall Hellboy is a well-paced bit of adrenaline that's guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

Go ahead and throw logic out the window on this one folks. A mysterious Tibetan monk with no name (Chow Yun-Fat) has spent a lifetime protecting an ancient document known as the Scroll of the Ultimate--a parchment that will yield unlimited power to anyone who reads it. After running around the globe for 60 years the Monk knows it's time to hang up his robes and find a new guardian but spotting a successor isn't easy in the hustle bustle of the 21st century where Tibetan traditions and rituals are almost non-existent. Maybe the next protector should be the crafty rebellious pickpocket Kar (Seann William Scott) who learned martial arts from watching kung-fu movies; after all Kar helps the Monk escape from the scroll's most avid pursuer Strucker (Karel Roden) a sadistic old Nazi who wants to use the its power to rid the planet of inferior races. Or maybe the Monk's successor is the elusive but beautiful bad girl Jade (James King) whose skills are numerous and who seems to pop up to help Kar whenever he gets in a jam. Whomever the Monk eventually chooses they must first unite to battle the ultimate enemy--and keep the scroll safe.
If it weren't for Yun-Fat Bulletproof Monk would be pretty hopeless. The charismatic actor finds a nice balance no matter what he does and in this case he resists the obvious temptation to play the Monk as a fish out of water in the big city. Since he's long been one of Chinese cinema's most well-known action heroes he's definitely in his element in Monk standing on top of a car with guns blazing and the Zen master persona he discovered in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon serves him well here too. The script requires him to spout off fortune-cookie mumbo jumbo but he manages to do it without sounding ridiculous. The petite King actually holds her own as the brawny-yet-brainy tough chick but the wisecracking Scott is completely out of his element for the first time in his career. He handles the little comedic tidbits well but in no way is it possible to believe that the "Dude" who couldn't find his car and the jackass who drank someone else's bodily fluids in American Pie can be a martial arts hero who saves the planet. It just isn't going to happen.
Bulletproof Monk relies on the ghosts of movies past including Crouching Tiger and the 1986 Eddie Murphy stinker The Golden Child for its plot which results in a film that's chock full of cliches especially the evil Nazi who has spent 60 years chasing after the scroll using his tow-headed granddaughter whose cover is an organization for human rights to do the dirty work. A few bright moments with Yun-Fat coupled with director Paul Hunter's good use of fast-paced martial arts action make the rest of this unimaginative movie somewhat palatable--even novices Williams and King look good doing the moves--but all in all Bulletproof Monk is shooting blanks.